Chapter 7

Bonnie's POV

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Also, thank you to the anonymous reviewer jeanetta for giving me the idea of Bonnie teaching Damon how to drive.

"Can you please explain why I have to do this again?" Damon complained as we made our way from the front of the boarding house to my car. Honestly, I wasn't even sure why I agreed to teach Damon how to drive, considering it was my car, but for some reason, I really didn't mind it. Even if my mind was still burned with that smug look Elena gave me before we went out the door of the boarding house. I turned towards him when we reached the car, to answer his question. "You have to do this, because it's going to be hard living in this century if you can't drive", I answered flatly.

He still looked annoyed, but at least he didn't argue, which I thought for sure he would. I quickly gestured for him to get into the passenger seat, while I got into the driver's. I thought it would be better if we drove somewhere isolated, where there wasn't such a risk of running people, and things over. That was the last thing we needed. We were both silent as I drove us away from the boarding house, and up into the Old Wood (The Old Wood was in the books. I'm not sure if it is in the TV show but in this story it is) where we would hopefully be mostly out of view from anyone.

Luckily, there were plenty of drive spots in the wood, so it was easy to find a nice, clear spot that seemed perfect for an amnesic vampire to practice driving. After I parked the car, I turned towards him, and was surprised to see that he actually looked nervous. I was pretty sure it was the first time I've ever actually seen Damon Salvatore nervous, and I couldn't hold back my small smirk.

"Alright, are you ready?" I asked, already unbuckling my seatbelt so that we could get out and switch places. He simply nodded and got out of the car, looking determined to prove that he could do this and that he was not intimidated by it at all. I decided to humor him and didn't say anything as we both got out and switched seat, but I could still tell that he was nervous as he sat on the driver side, hands hesitantly on the wheel.

I'll admit, he actually did pretty well, and he was a fast learner. He went through most of my instructions pretty smoothly, and there were only a few times he screwed up. "Not bad Salvatore", I commented, as he parked it, after receiving brief instructions from me. He turned towards me, a smug smirk plastered on his face. "See? There's nothing to it", he said smugly, and I gave a small laugh.

"Don't get too cocky. You still have to prove that you can drive on the road, and not run over anything."

"So? Shouldn't be too hard"

"Just a few minutes ago you were totally freaked about driving!"

"Yeah, but that was before I realized how easy it was"

"Ok, then how do you explain the multiple times you backed into the bush?"

For a moment, he actually didn't say anything, and I was pleased that I stumped him. That was when a thought really hit me: I was sitting in a car with Damon Salvatore, and we were arguing in a playful way and laughing, like we were old friends. If someone had asked me just a few days that this would happen, I would have laughed in their face. Now I could actually see what Elena and Stefan had meant when they said that there was some "good" in him. It was just covered up all these years by all the hatred that has taken him over all this time.

"Alright, so maybe it wasn't completely easy, but you have to admit, I was pretty good for a beginner." That actually was true. I don't think I've ever seen anyone learn as quickly as he had, despite all the accidents with the bush. I nodded and smiled. "Yes, you did a very good job as your first try", I admitted. Then we just looked at each other, still smiling until I cleared my throat. "We should probably get back to the boarding house."

"Actually, would you mind if we walked for a while before heading back?" he asked unexpectedly. I nodded, not sure where this was going, but agreeing to it. We both got out of the car, and once he did, he looked around for a moment, and then turned back towards me. "You know, this place holds a lot of memory. I remember that Stefan and used to play all the time in these woods when we were young", he commented.

I simply nodded, not knowing what else to say, and we started to walk, with me just following him. He was silent for a while, and we just continued to walk, getting further and further away from the car, but I was sure he knew where he was going. "Damon, are you okay?" I finally asked, when he still hadn't said anything. Then, he wheeled towards me, looking a little anxious.

"It just really bugs me, to not remember a hundred years of my life. I mean, how did we meet you and Elena? Hell, I don't even remember, how I became a vampire", his voice was rising a little with frustration. A small pang of guilt boomed through my head, knowing that I wasn't planning on giving his memory back, but I quickly dismissed it, remembering why we weren't undoing the spell.

"Damon, I'm going to be honest with you. I think it's good that you don't remember everything. It wasn't exactly a happy time for you or Stefan."

He sighed and nodded before answering. "I know, Stefan told me that already, but still, it's a little frustrating." We lapsed into silence for what seemed like forever, until he broke it again. "This is probably going to sound a little strange, but when I see you, I feel like I should know you, as if we're connected somehow." I tried not to frown at that. It was sweet of him to open up like that, but the only connection I've ever had with Damon was the fact that he attacked me in the woods one night. If there was supposedly some profound connection between us, I certainly haven't felt it.

To my surprise, he actually looked a little embarrassed when I didn't say anything. "I know it sounds strange, but that's how I feel", he confessed. I suddenly remembered what Stefan had said about Damon being "attached to me". Was this what he was talking about? I felt a little bit bad about my silence, so I answered him. "It's ok Damon. Stefan said that you may feel a little attached to me since I was the first person you actually talked too besides him in this century", I said softly.

He seemed relieved that I had given him a reason to what he was feeling. "Yes, that must be it", he said, but I could still tell he wasn't completely convinced. The awkward silence started again, and I murmured: "we should probably get going." He nodded, and we both made our way back to the car. As we walked, I found myself sneaking peeks at him. He really was good looking, with his chiseled features, and from the looks of it, he had a nice body, you could tell just from looking at him, even with a shirt on. Not to mention those blue eyes you could just drown in…

Alright this has to stop I scolded myself. We are in a serious crisis here, with Isobel being back and wanting to see Elena. The last thing we all need is me becoming attracted to an amnesic vampire. When we reached the car, I tried to open the door, and to my horror, it was locked, and I could see the keys, lying on the seat. I gritted my teeth and fished through my pockets, looking for anything that could possibly help us out of this situation.

"Is there a problem?" I heard Damon ask.

"Yes, we locked the keys in the car!"

When he didn't say anything, I sighed, "Which means we can't get back into the car, meaning we'll probably have to leave it and walk back, so that I can hopefully get the spare key at home and get the car tomorrow." I couldn't believe this. Was I so eager to walk with him that I forgot the keys? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Damon looked a little apologetic. "I'm…" but I waved him off. "No, this is my fault. I'm supposed to be the one teaching you."

He didn't say anything, and we began to walk down the path from where we came in the car, but after a couple of minutes, Damon stopped us. "No offense, but I think we could get back faster if we travel at my speed." Before I could even register what was happening, he scooped me up into his arms, and he was running, holding me to his chest. The trees were all a blur as he ran, and I quickly looked down to avoid getting dizzy.

In what seemed like seconds, we were outside the boarding house, and he put me down, but had to catch me again when I almost lost my balance, still a little dizzy from the run, despite that I had put my head down. He chuckled as he caught me. "Are you okay?" I laughed as I spun around to hit him playfully in the chest. "You could have warned me before we just took off like that!"

"I didn't think you'd let me do it if you knew"

"Well, it scared me"

"Well, I still got us here didn't I"

I just rolled my eyes, and nodded, and we both walked into the boarding house, only to see Elena and Stefan, on the couch, their lips locked. When they heard Damon laugh, they quickly jumped apart. Elena was bright red, and even Stefan looked uncomfortable. "So, I taught Damon how to drive", I said, wanting to break the awkward silence. Elena nodded quickly, obviously grateful for the change of subject, "so how did it go?"

"It went pretty well, Bonnie is a good teacher", Damon said, nudging me playfully. I laughed, but froze when I saw Elena and Stefan's expressions. Elena was shooting me an amusing smirk, while Stefan was looking intently at Damon, as if he was trying to figure something out. "Ok, well I think we should probably get home Bonnie", Elena offered, and I dismayed. "Ok, well, here's the problem: we kind of locked the keys in the car", I admitted, my cheeks no doubt red.

Stefan got up, smiling. "I could drive you girls home tonight, and we can get your car back tomorrow Bonnie", he reassured, and I nodded. As Stefan got his keys, I turned towards Damon. "Alright, we'll continue the lessons sometime this week", I promised, and he smiled. "I'm looking forward to it." With that, I, Elena, and Stefan all went out the door, leaving a smirking Damon on the couch.

After we were all in the car, Stefan driving, Elena in the passenger seat, and me in the back, Elena turned towards me, as I knew she would. "Alright Bonnie, spill it, what's going on between you and Damon?" I shook my head stubbornly. "Nothing, we're just getting along better now is all", I answered. Elena glared at me then turned towards Stefan. "Come on Stefan, don't you think there's something going on between them?" Stefan looked exasperated before he answered.

"Just keep me out of this please." Elena rolled her eyes and turned back towards me. "He's only saying that because he doesn't want to take sides." Stefan glared slightly, but didn't say anything. Thankfully, Elena didn't say anything else about Damon the rest of the night, but I could still count on her drilling me about it tomorrow. Since my house was closer, Stefan dropped me off first.

I bid them both goodnight, and headed into the house, my mind still reeling. I looked out the window, and watched them drive off, before turning towards the rest of the house. "Dad, I'm home", I called out, going up the stairs, since I didn't see him anywhere in the kitchen, or the living room. When he still didn't answer, I started to wonder. "Dad?" I continued my calls as I made my way to his room, and I froze in horror at what I saw.

My dad was lying on the floor, looking beaten and mangled.